Pokémon Ziz: A Survival Horror Pokémon Story
by endless.zoro
Summary: Pokémon are adorable creatures we make friends with... Or are they? Delve into a world where catching them all is not an option.


"...

...Hello, there. Is this thing working? Ah... Glad to meet you. Welcome... To the world of Pokémon.

My name... My name is Bristlecone. People call me the pokémon professor.

This world... Sigh... This world is inhabited far and wide by creatures called pokémon.

Pokémon are... They are monsters. They are a threat to us all. I... I have studied them since it all began, in search for weaknesses and ways to defeat them.

...

But first... tell me a little about yourself, would you? Now, tell me... Are you a boy or a girl?"

The radio cracks, and she responds with a feminine voice:

\- I... I'm a girl.

"All right... Let's begin with your name." - Says the professor. - "What is it?"

\- I don't... I don't remember. I think someone used to call me... Sz... Ziz?

"Right... So you don't remember. Let's just go with Ziz for now. Listen, I don't mean to scare you but... Your very own pokémon legend is about to unfold. A world of nightmares and horror with pokémon awaits... You should get out of there. Do you see the exit? It should be to your right if you're facing the radio to speak to me."

\- I see it... It looks really heavy though...

"You can handle it. Just be careful after you open it. The field, it... Has been compromised. That's why we are contacting you over the radio."

Ziz struggles to turn the big door's handle, but eventually manages to get it open.

"I see you. Check the building on the other side of that fence. See it? I'm right over here, behind the windows. Shit, what is that?... Hey. Hey, you gotta come here right now. RUN. RUN!"

Panicking, Ziz runs through the field looking around. She can see movement in the tall grass, but she can't see what's causing it. But it's heading right towards her. She dashes to the fence and jumps on it. It's way higher than herself but she manages to climb it and jump to the other side. Then, she runs towards the building and a door opens, a man on the inside calls to her:

\- GO! GO! GO! DON'T STOP! COME INSIDE!

She hears a loud clang behind her. Turning to look, she realizes the iron net fence has been put down. A purple, horned quadruped creature stands on it, looking directly at her with fierce eyes. It opens it's mouth revealing what seems to be a sharp beak with some rogue crocodile teeth on it's back. Then it shrieks. A short, high-pitched noise aggressively cried, almost like it's screaming a death threat at Ziz.

\- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON'T JUST STAND THERE! COME INSIDE, QUICKLY!

The girl snaps out of her fear-induced paralysis and hurries inside the building. She hears another shriek from the creature and the slamming of the door. Then another slam: the monster had thrown itself against the door.

\- Let's go, this won't hold it for long. - The man says, walking away from the door and into a hallway. Ziz follows him.

\- Are you...?

\- Bristlecone, yeah. You can call me by first name if you want. Pine.

\- ... What... What is that thing? What is going on?

\- Like I said, it's a pokémon... Listen, I know you have a lot of questions, but let me take you to a safe place first. Come, let's go through here.

The professor opens a trapdoor and goes down though it. Ziz follows, hesitantly. When she steps on the floor, the voice of another man surprises her:

\- What the hell? Are you kidding me? This is a child!

\- I told you, Behem, we never had the option to pick a target. It's random. What did you expect, a war general?

\- No, but...

\- Just shut it, all right? She's got enough to deal with right now. Ziz, this is Behem, and that is Levia.

A girl on the other side of the room waves at Ziz. She had short hair and looked like some sort of mechanic, all covered in grease. Behem, on the other hand, had more of a nerd vibe to himself. Big glasses and neat clothes. For the first time, Ziz realized she didn't check what she was wearing. She looked down and saw a blue dress, matching white shoes, now all covered in dirt. She also realized she had long, brown hair. Everything felt so weird to her... She couldn't remember a thing. She didn't recognize herself.

\- Levia - The professor calls out - Did you fix the electrical fence?

\- One second... There. Done. Not that it matters now... That nidorino brought it right down with a stomp.

\- Well it is still better than nothing... Behem, do we have eyes on the rino?

\- We do... It just took the door down too. I don't think it can find us down here, but we should be quiet if it passes close by, we can't underestimate its ears.

\- Roger that. If it finds us in this small space, I don't think we have any chance of surviving... It's not only resilient as hell, but it's also poisonous.

\- Isn't just the horn poisonous? - Asks Levia, putting away the tools she was using to fix whatever she was messing with.

\- I've seen some of them secrete poison through their skin too. Nasty stuff. Just to be sure, you better avoid touching it altogether.

\- Can anyone please just tell me what the hell is going on?! - Ziz exclaims. She feels dizzy and confused, and all that talk and nonsense just made her irritated.

\- Shh! - Behem shushes her and points to the display. A camera shows the nidorino standing still, its ears pointed upwards. Everyone holds their breath.

After a couple minutes, the rino finally gives up trying to find them, and goes back out of the building and into the wild.

\- Sorry, Ziz. - Says Bristlecone. - I'll explain everything. Please, sit down.

She does. The professor sits next to her:

\- You see... We humans used to live alongside pokémon. The very name we give them... Pocket monsters. We literally used to keep them in our pockets. Some of us had strong bonds with them. Friendships, even. Others used them as mere tools. Weapons. Others considered them pets.

\- You're kidding, right? Monsters like that one?

\- I'm not joking. You see, since ancient times, we humans had developed ways to capture and tame them. We called that technology "pokéballs". In antiquity, pokéballs were made of apricorns from special trees. More recently, there were artificial pokéballs made by high tech companies. As of now... That technology... That power we had over pokémon since times immemorial... Is lost. Not a single pokéball works anymore. We don't know what caused it, but it seems it wasn't an accident. Not long after that, most pokémon started acting against humans. Sure, a lot of them were already aggressive creatures, but even the pokémon we had bonds with... They started turning against us. It was like... Someone was convincing them that we were not good to them.

He paused for a second, then continued:

\- The world crumbled to pieces. No one knew what to do. Pokémon were not only are friends and tools, they were also the main weapons humanity has had since... Forever. Without the pokéballs, we have nothing to defend ourselves from them. Without our own pokémon to protect us... We are alone, and helpless. Most pokémon are way too powerful for even a group of humans to defeat. Even if we had weapons... Even if we had a history full of wars fought without the help of pokémon... It surely would still not be an easy feat. Some pokémon have the power to move mountains...

The professor looked sad. Like telling the story made it more real:

\- So I found out about this place. Apparently, before all this apocalypse started, some terrorist group harnessed the power of legendary pokémon to try and bring something from another dimension... It seems they failed, though. They did succeed in making the machine work, but they couldn't develop the technology to peek into the other dimension and find whatever was the target they wished to bring to our world. So they just abandoned the place... With the energy they harnessed still stored in the machine, since they never got to use it.

\- So you used it to bring me here...

\- Correct. Like I said... If we had information on war tactics and advanced weaponry... Maybe we could fight back. From what I could gather from the terrorists studies, your dimension should be one that never had pokémon in it to begin with... So you must have fought your wars by yourself. You must have developed more than just swords and clubs and simple house-made bombs and karate. Unlike the terrorists, we didn't really care who we summoned... Sure, like I mentioned before, a war general would make things easier but... Anyone from your world should be able to shed a light on us. Even a kid like you... You must have studied your wars at school, right?

\- I... I'm sorry. I don't think I can help you. Even if I remembered things... Ugh... I do know there were more weapons than the ones you described but... Even if I could remember exactly what they are... I don't think I could help you make them. I wouldn't even know how to begin explaining what they look like, much less how they work. I think... They are just too complex for a kid like me to understand... They're not as straightforward as some kind of blade or club. At least I don't think they are... I... Can't really remember much. Sorry.

\- I see... That's... Unfortunate. I'm sorry I had to bring you to this world for nothing.

\- It's... Okay. I don't remember if my world was any better than this, anyway. Can't you just activate the machine again and keep trying until you get your general?

\- No... The terrorists had only harnessed enough to summon one person or object of similar amount of mass. And the technology to capture more of that power... Guess what... Used a pokéball to do it.

Everyone in the room just sits in silence for a long while. They all realize the situation they are in now... Their last hope, the possibility of knowledge of war from another dimension, had just proven to be out of reach. They are lost, hopeless, in a world full of monsters they do not have the strength or the means to fight against...

And Ziz... Although she was dragged into this, she couldn't help but feel like she is to blame for putting them in this situation. Maybe, if she just hadn't been wherever she was when they activated it... Maybe they could have summoned someone more useful to them.

But there was no turning back now. Ziz's pokémon adventure... Had already started.


End file.
